User Reviews

Strengths: Strong frame, great components, good suspension geometry. Very good for being flexible between XC and DH

Weaknesses: Rear Air Shock does not handle DH abuse very well. Schrader valve started leaking just a few months after riding. Replaced with a coil over shock. Marzochhi AM4 fork is too stiff no matter what the air pressure combination you use. Not a good fork for rough terrain.

Bottom Line:

This is an excellent bike for a first time full-suspension rider. For a tame all mountain rig this is a bargain for all the high quality components. I modified my bike pretty quickly soon after purchasing. The AVID JUICY 3's with 6" rotors did not have sufficient power capabilities for my riding. This bike is a little on the heavy side for a XC rig. If you plan on occasionally riding downhill trails you can't go wrong with this bike. The six inches of specialized FSR travel is nice and plush and will comfortable soak up small drops and jumps. Ride with your rebound on the fork on the slow side and you will receive a fairly plush ride. This bike does everything its supposed to be able to do, and does it well. For costing about half of what a Santa Cruz Nomad does, you are getting a great bike you just don't get top shelf componentry and really plush suspension.

Weaknesses: A little heavy for trail riding. The suspension takes a while to get right.

Bottom Line:

This is a great bike for hard pounding trail riding. The local trail is full of cypress roots and drops and this takes the punishment. I ride a hardtail sometimes and I keep going back to the KHS for the plush ride. I have yet to test it on some serious downhill, but am confident it would do great. An excellent bike for those looking to get into 6" of travel.

Do it all frame. When set to travel 5", behaves almost as a hardtail. Set it to 6" travel, and it'll take anything you throw at it. Entry level FS bike that can handle different riding styles. Can be used as an aggressive XC rig,a hardcore AM bike, or as a light freeriding machine. Great as a first FS bike. I'd recommend this bike to anyone.

I have 6 rides on it now, on all different terrain everything from steep mountain climbs followed by technical descents to riverside side rollers. It rides as good as frames costing 3 times as much. The adjustable travel is convenient, it’s almost like you have 3 bikes in one. The Pearl 3.1 is a good feeling, highly adjustable shock. The finish is thin in places giving it a slightly blotchy appearance if you look real close, and it chips easily, but hey I ride the thing in the forest, not hang it on the wall and stare at it. At $400 the frame is a steal. At twice the price it's still a good deal. If your looking for a do it all FS frame, the KHS AM is the way to go.

Updated Review- I am loving this bike. Lots of fun, nice and plush. VERY adjustable. Only indication that it is a cheaper frame is overall weight. Welds are nice and clean. I have a Marzocchi All Mountain SL fork with 130mm of travel and this seems to be a perfect fit. Read my review below for more details, I highly reccomend this bike.

Weaknesses: A little bit on the heavy side but at this price you can't have everything

Bottom Line:

So far this is a great bike. I bought it as a frame set (It was formerly built up, but not used) from bobs-bicycles.com and they could not have been any more helpful.They are also on E-Bay under the seller name betterbikes with a 99.9% rating. When I got the frame, part of the included headset was missing. One phone call later and a new headset was on it's way.With this proven suspension design you can't go wrong. All in all it cost me $1700 to build this bike as specd here.Bob's installed the cranks and pressed the headset cups at no charge too. You can go to the KHS website and click on the 2005 link to see how this bike was origionally set up. I have upgraded everything except the wheelset here and the bike weighs about 33-35lbs. I collected the parts over about two months and assembled the bike as I got the parts.If you are a biker on a budget, this is the way to go. Feel free to e-mail me with any questions.

Hey guys ive searched the web until im blue in the face. What are some suggestions for a burly hardtail xc production bike that is around $1000or less. If you have to say well ya know there all crap unless you spend $1500 then you can get this..... Im ok with that. Im looking to buy a second bike t ... Read More »

OK, I need to build an AM hardtail for under 1000 dollars. Im thinking transition transAM frame. I know that this is a pain, but if anyone could get me a decent AM component list for under 600 dollars, that would be amazing. AM hardtail is my life and I really need a bike right now. It seems che ... Read More »

So I really want to get into mountain biking, so I'm looking at bikes. I have a pretty hardcore BMX background, and experience with a lot of other similar things like snowboarding so I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to be doing with the bike. I've done a lot of searching on the forums, but fo ... Read More »